A Day In The Life Klaus x Caroline
by talesunwritten
Summary: Caroline decides to take Klaus up on his offer to take her to see the world to try and buy the Mystic Falls gang time to break the blood ties. The last thing she expects is to develop feelings for the Original hybrid.
1. The Decision

A/N This is the start of a series of drabbles I'm going to do for Klaroline as snapshots of their life and burgeoning relationship. Some will be longer than others. Either way, I do hope y'all enjoy them. Feel free to leave comments/suggestions/requests. 3 Further drabbles will be uploaded as additional "chapters" of this, or you can find them on tumblr such-endless-stars

**A Day In The Life**

"Why do I always have to be Klaus-bait?"  
"Because he's obsessed with you."

She thought back as she studied the ceiling of her room, and in her head she could hear his voice, dancing with the promise of things she'd never dreamed of. "I'll take you," he told her, "Wherever you want." Blue eyes closed and once again she was being whisked around a dance floor in the most beautiful dress she'd ever owned. "Rome. Paris. Tokyo." To be honest, she'd never really considered it. In Caroline's mind she believed that high school would be the best years of her life. Her glory years—and after that she'd settle down, get married, have children, coach the cheerleading squad…but now? Now there was eternity. There would be no children, and she didn't see marriage as a real possibility either. Who would _want_ to be stuck with someone for eternity? It had been easy enough for Sage to say she loved Finn, but she didn't actually have to put _up_ with him for 900 years. She sighed and opened her eyes, looking over to the dresser where there was a drawing of her and a horse. "I'll take you…" That was it, though, wasn't it? It was so simple: The answer to all of their problems, or at least a temporary solution. Let him take her. He was willing—more than willing. It would get him out of Mystic Falls and give Bonnie time to figure out how to break the blood ties, if she could at all, or for them to figure out another plan. Elena had martyred herself more than a few times (granted, so had many others), but Caroline decided that perhaps it was her turn to step up to the plate, at least on this. She knew Elena (or Bonnie, or Matt, or Tyler—wherever he was—or Sane Alaric) would never let her do it. She figured Damon would be all for it, and Bloodoholic Stefan would only oppose because it meant that he didn't have immediate access to revenge. Caroline rolled out of bed and grabbed her notebook and then settled in on her floor with her back against her mattress to start writing the letter to say her goodbye-for-nows.

_Elena,_

_Please don't be mad. Ok, you're going to be mad, but just hear me out. We need time to figure out what to do without Klaus trying to make you a walking blood bag for his psycho hybrid breeding program so…I'm taking him up on his offer. He said he'd take me anywhere I wanted to go, so I'm going. I don't know where. I'll keep my cell phone though, I hope, but if not I'll find a way to contact you and let you know I'm alive. Don't try to find me, no one else needs to be in danger because of this, and for now you'll be safe. Kind of. As safe as you can be here. I love you, and Bonnie, and Matt. I'll be fine. Just try not to take forever in figuring out plan B. Ok? Tell my mom I'm sorry and tell Tyler, if you hear from him, that I'm sorry and I love him and I'll be back._

_Hugs and kisses,_

_Caroline_

She sealed it up in an envelope and took a slow, measured breath to reaffirm her decision. It really was the best this way, just to get him away for a little while. Her heart fluttered a little, but she quashed the sudden excitement instantly. This wasn't something meant to be enjoyed, this was business. Strictly business. Her luggage set was packed down with clothes, shoes, makeup, and hair accoutrements and then loaded into her car. In the back of her mind she questioned whether or not he would actually be willing to take her at this point.

She parked her car in front of the large mansion that Klaus had procured for his family to live before they had scattered like ashes in the wind. Rebekah was still there, though Caroline was hoping that she wasn't home. She sat in the car and stared out past the steering wheel, and planned what she would say, how she'd appeal to his ego, when to challenge him, how to best sell the whole idea. She didn't bother to try and quell her uncertainty, because it was natural and would help her cause—so long as she didn't let it get the best of her. The sound of the car door shutting made her jump even though she saw it close. _Okay, just breathe,_ she told herself as she made her way to the front door, working herself up as she went. By the time she knocked there were tears in her eyes threatening to fall and she'd perfected the near-hiccup breath to indicate that she'd been crying and was just calming down. Caroline should have been an actress.

_**Knock Knock Knock**_

She waited, chewing on her lower lip until the door opened. Klaus looked momentarily surprised to see her—surprised and a little annoyed considering the way things had left off. "Caroline," he said, the edge of his voice was tense and it made her rethink what she was doing. It was too late now though. "What are you doing here?"

"I…" she trailed off and let her gaze drop and when she did the tears that had been clinging to the ends of her lashes fell in single rivers down each cheek. "I don't know. I just…I didn't know where else to go."

"To your friends. To Tyler," he said, and then added a touch venomously, "but you don't know where he is, do you?" Caroline shook her head in response and didn't look up, but she heard Klaus sigh irritably and could see the door open wider in her peripheral vision. "Come in," he said begrudgingly.

The blond vampire wiped her tears with the back of her hand and entered the stately home apprehensively. Her blood ran cold when she heard the door shut behind her. No backing out now. "I'm sorry," she began, "I probably shouldn't be here at all. No one knows I'm here."

"I'm sure," his tone belied his utter disbelief.

"I'm serious," she said and turned to face him, her eyebrows knitted together. "Elena would have never let me come."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because I need someone to talk to—someone that isn't Elena or Bonnie or anyone else. Because they're just going to feel sorry for me. 'Oh poor Caroline, her dad died, her boyfriend ran off because he's sired to a crazy hybrid original'—no offense—but what they're really thinking is how much none of that other stuff matters because I can't die and they can and it's so selfish for me to say, but everyone is so concerned about Elena—even _you_, that no one can spare a minute to care about the fact that I had this…this," she gestured to herself, indicating her vampirism, "thrust upon me without my choice, got tortured by werewolves, got tortured by my own dad who then decided that he hates what I am so much that he would rather die than spend an eternity with his daughter." She was crying again and was surprised to find that this time there was nothing fake about her tears. She was genuinely upset and it surprised her just how much she'd been holding in. A hand lifted quickly to her mouth to muffle an actual sob that tried to wrench its way out of her throat.

The severe look on his face softened and he guided her to sit on a couch in the living room. He sat with her, but permitted her distance, and he didn't speak, just watched her carefully as she struggled to compose herself. She was careful about cleaning up her face with the travel pack of Kleenex she had in her purse, making sure that it didn't smear her mascara. When she finished cleaning herself up she found a crystal tumbler half-filled with amber liquid sitting in front of her on the table.

Klaus was torn as he watched her kill the whiskey in one shot and the coughing that had replaced the hiccupping sobs. He didn't trust her—how could he? She and her ilk had repeatedly proven that they weren't to be trusted, as had she, and had so willingly made herself a distraction for him to keep his attention off her friends and what they were planning. In spite of all that, she was still the bright and beautiful girl who had captured his interest for the first time in centuries. "Caroline," he started, but then pressed his lips together firmly, hands closing into fists where they rested on his knees. He considered his words. "What would you have me do?" He could kill them all—would have, if she'd asked him to, he realized. He had no love for any of them. Elena was useful, he'd keep her, but everyone else could go. Even Stefan if he had to.

The glass in her hand was returned to the table, but the burning hadn't ceased when Caroline tried to clear her throat to speak. A hand waved in front of her face, willing the fiery sensation to stop, her face scrunched. Definitely a vodka girl. When she thought she could talk without squeaking, she looked up to him, but then averted her eyes almost just as quickly. "Paris, I think, would be nice," she said shyly and bit her lower lip. Caroline risked another short glance back up to gauge his reaction—which looked nothing short of gobsmacked. "I'm serious," she added, "unless you've changed your mind?"

Blue eyes narrowed a bit and he leaned forward, close enough to make her uncomfortable. "Give me some credit, I've lived a very long time, I don't fall for the same ploy twice."

"No ploy—I swear," she said, instantly holding up her right hand, pinky extended until she realized that he probably wouldn't get the reference—and furthermore, she wasn't going to _pinky promise_ anything with Klaus. Sometimes her age showed more than others. Caroline dropped her hand and sighed. "Do it for Elena?" she offered. "You want her to stay safe, and she's just going to get herself killed in some plan or another trying to kill you, so really if you leave she's safer anyway. Stefan isn't going to hurt her, neither is Damon. Rebekah might, but more than anything I think she just wants a chance to be a teenage girl and be accepted and do all the things she never got to do because your dad was a d-bag too and you spent so long running from him. I don't know, I don't care what reason you want to use, just…" she chewed on her lower lip again, "please?"

He moved again, this time to kneel in front of her, his elbows propped on his knees and his chin on his interlaced fingers. "You are reason enough, Caroline," he told her sincerely, but his eyes went steely in the next moment, "but I assure you, that if I find out this is a trick that I will bring you back here and kill everyone you love in front of you and then I will leave you in the basement to rot until you beg me for death."

She swallowed thickly as she watched the change in his demeanor. Everything was heightened as a vampire, and Klaus had a very sore spot for being betrayed. It made him suspicious, vengeful. In spite of that though, she forced a bright smile, "Good! I'm already packed."


	2. Leavin' on a Jet Plane

**A/N:** I'm going to try to maintain a Sunday update schedule, it literally takes me a week to write these chapters, as short as they are, because I don't get home from work until midnight. Thanks for bearing with me. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm looking forward to the ones to come. :)

**A/N** 2: Epic fail on my part trying to upload this at 3 in the morning. Ok, here is the REAL chapter two (although I swear this is what I uploaded last night, whoops!)

She wasn't sure how he pulled it off, but really, she shouldn't have doubted him to start with—they were on a plane that night and Caroline was then faced with the realization as they sat out on the tarmac preparing to leave for Boston that she was about to be stuck with him and just him for company for the next almost twenty hours. Fortunately, so far, she hadn't had to put up much for conversation. He'd left her in the living room and went and packed, then met with a couple of his hybrid pets to give them direction for his absence. She wasn't sure if he told anyone in his family where he was going, but they were all more than capable of taking care of themselves. The flight attendant made the announcement that takeoff was approaching and all electronic devices had to be put away, which meant no more music to keep her attention and give her an excuse not to converse. Klaus seemed too busy being perturbed that "business" was the highest class that could be achieved on this leg of the flight. Caroline preferred that he stay that way so that he didn't notice how nervous she was, though the way she was drumming her fingers obsessively on the top of her thighs was a dead giveaway. She was glad she wore heels because it was harder for her to tap her feet at that angle.

"I've never been on a plane before," she finally announced mid-safety discussion while the plane began to taxi towards the take-off strip.

"Then I'll assume that you'll be hysterical if we start to crash and will make sure to secure my mask first before dealing with you," he said mildly without really looking at her. His lips did crack a smile though when he noticed the way she was glaring at him out of the corner of his eye.

"I do _not_ get _hysterical_," she snapped in such a way that garnered a snort from the older vampire. She, without thinking, smacked him in the chest with her safety manual that she'd been religiously reading (not that they really needed it).

Klaus placed a hand over his chest and gave her a withering look as though she'd gravely wounded him. It was replaced by a smirk though when Caroline's ire turned to shock once the plane achieved lift off and her stomach jumped into her throat. In return, he got a very hateful glare once she'd composed herself, and then a flip of her hair as she went back to reading the safety manual.

The initial flight wasn't even two hours long, which made it easy enough to ignore him and the fact that their legs were perilously close to touching. The in-flight magazines left a lot to be desired, but truth be told, Caroline spent most of the time glued to the window looking at the ground below—at least until it was time to land. As they approached rapidly, Caroline all but slammed the window shut and stared straight ahead, gripping the seat and bracing for what she thought was going to be a much worse impact than it actually was. Klaus just smirked at her, leaning lazily against the back of his seat as though nothing in the world could ruffle him. She wanted to slap that smug look off his face.

An hour and a half later, Caroline was debarking as quickly as she could.

"Where are you going?"

"Somewhere that serves alcohol," she responded without glancing back over her shoulder, her purple hound's-tooth rollaway clicking over the divots in the linoleum as she made her way out of the boarding area. She didn't really think he was going to leave her to her own devices, though she was pleasantly surprised when he did. By the time she made her way to their boarding gate for the long flight to Charles De Gaulle, she had a slight buzz and a new rosy flush to her cheeks.

Klaus looked up from where he was writing something on his phone with a stylus. He actually looked a little surprised to see her there and it caught her off guard. Her brows knit into a very Caroline expression, "You didn't think I just left, did you?"

The moment of silence that followed gave her all the answer that she needed before he remembered to put his guard back up. "And where would you go?"

"I don't know, back to Mystic Falls. It's not like I've never taken a bus anywhere before," she pointed out. "And now I can compel someone to read my license as me being twenty-five, so I could rent a car and drive back. They totally come with GPS now."

Whatever reply he might have retorted with was lost in the announcement to board. Caroline just smiled sweetly before giving an unnecessarily dramatic flip of her hair as she turned to walk towards the jet bridge. Klaus sighed and shook his head, but the ghost of a smile on his lips said that he was going to thoroughly enjoy this game.

She wasn't surprised at all that they were in first class and she settled in to the large seat, which she discovered was fully reclinable into a bed. How snazzy. There was a great deal of room, enough that she didn't even particularly mind sitting next to Klaus until the minutes started to tick by and she realized that all the other seats were empty in first class—except for a couple on the other side of the plane that she sorely suspected were meant to be dinner. He must have read the look on her face because without her saying a word he offered an explanation, "I don't like to be bothered."

"And you decided to buy out almost the whole first class? Couldn't you have picked your own seating section then?" she pointed out, since he'd still chosen to sit directly next to her.

"I find it easier to converse, and far less rude than shouting across the cabin," he mused.

"…You could be at like…the back of the plane and whisper and I'd still hear you."

"Appearances, sweetheart."

Caroline silently fumed, more because his charming delivery was exactly that—charming—than her own irritation. "Whatever," she responded, "but I don't eat live, so if you think they are dinner then you're sadly mistaken."

"I doubt that."

"Klaus, I'm serious! Just because I asked you to take me to Paris doesn't mean I'm going to become an evil blood slut." _Like your sister_ she added mentally but had the grace not to say it aloud.

"As you wish," he said with a wave of his hand, though she doubted that would really be the end of it.

This flight was slated to take much longer than the last, but it was also overnight and gave her the opportunity to sleep, which she decided she was definitely going to do once she could calm down a little. Klaus had gone to speak with the other couple, so Caroline didn't feel bad about plugging in her head phones (not that she would have anyway) and going through the channel guides.

Klaus went to speak with the other couple once they were cleared after takeoff. He was in the midst of discussing the politics in Greece with the husband while utterly charming his wife when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Across the cabin towards the front, Caroline was dancing in her seat, mouthing the lyrics to whatever she was watching. He didn't know the name of the show, but there were teenagers dancing, and apparently singing. Sometimes Caroline showed her age, and yet he still found her utterly captivating. He stood up and crept back toward their seats. He watched from behind as she continued to sing low under her breath with Lea Michele. "…Really then?" he asked in an amused lilt as he plucked the ear-buds from her ears mid-solo.

Caroline looked absolutely horror-struck that she'd just been caught. If looks could kill—he'd never have to worry about a white oak dagger again. "Do you mind? This is my favorite episode of Glee," she said in defense of waxing musical on the plane.

"Oh, Glee," he said, holding up his hands and having the grace to look as though he'd committed a grievous error, "I _do_ apologize, Miss Forbes," he took another step back, looking a little too pleased with himself for her liking.'

"I don't like you," she snapped, blue eyes narrowing.

"You wound me, darling, and here I am taking you to Paris."

"That doesn't mean I have to like you," she said with finality and turned back around to put her ear buds back in, pouting.

It didn't faze Klaus one bit, who was far too used to dealing with his sister (they had more in common than either of them were willing to admit). He just rolled his eyes and returned to his own seat at her side, kicking back to read. He afforded her a sideways glance, but Caroline was very intentionally focusing on the small screen in front of her. He snorted softly.

Two hours passed and when Klaus glanced back over to his charge who was fast asleep. One of her earbuds had fallen out, and emitted the sound of whatever movie she'd started watching. A hand reached out and he brushed a curl of gold from her forehead. Her brows knitted a bit, but almost instantly smoothed. He smiled and stood up, pulling a blanket down out of the compartment overhead and draped it over the young vampire.

It was the scent of blood that woke her, eyes going dark out of instinct. She sat up to discern the scent, but it was coming from a glass that Klaus was holding in front of her. "Just as good as one of your little plastic bags," he informed her, eyes yellow and mouth still fresh with blood.

"I told you I don't eat live!" she said with a gasp, scooting back against her chair like he'd just offered her a glass of vervain.

"Relax, darling, they're dead," he said as though that would make everything better suddenly.

Caroline looked over to the couple who were slumped over, tucked in with a blanket that was growing bloodier by the moment. "Klaus—you can't…you didn't. We're on a _plane_. You can't just hide their bodies and expect that no one will find them.

"I've already compelled the flight attendants to forget that they exist. The captains will figure it out after we've been long gone into the airport. You don't think I bought the tickets in our name, did you?"

Caroline really hadn't thought of it. He'd just gone before her, she imagined, and had compelled everyone along the way. The conflict showed on her face and he remembered that she, unlike the other company he kept, had a very strong aversion to killing. "You can't just…_kill people._ They had a life, they had a family."

"And now they are dead," he snapped.

"You of all people should care about what it means to lose your family. They are dead—their family isn't. Their parents, maybe, their brothers and sisters all will feel this loss now. And for _what_? For us to live? We can live without killing, you just choose not to!" She watched his face darken and knew she was on thin ice. His jaw was tight and his eyes were gold around the edges. Caroline decided to readjust her approach and the lines between her brows softened. "You kill people and you compel them and you make them fear you because you think that's the only way that anyone will stay, but you haven't compelled me, and I'm still here. I'm here because I _want_ to be."

"Why?"

"Because maybe I think there's a shred of decency in you, that you're not a total d-bag every minute of every day and that maybe _somewhere_ there's good in you," she looked away, glancing back to the other couple and then down at her hands. "I'm not so stupid to think I can change you. Only you can do that. But at least have some respect for me and don't go killing people when I'm around." Her voice trailed off and she turned her head back to look out the window.

The rest of the flight was incredibly silent, heavy. He'd almost fallen asleep when he heard a soft squeal from the girl next to him. "We're here," she whispered, a hand going to the window where she traced the Eiffel Tower which only looked three inches high. For the moment the dead bodies were forgotten and Klaus had never seen her beam so brightly. He knew at that moment he wanted to see her shine like that at every possible chance. If she'd forgive him for his latest transgression, anyway.


	3. The Hotel

A/N: Just for future reference because I've noticed a lot of folks have forgotten: vampires in TVD canon DO still have heart beats. In fact, they're still pretty much human, just with some cool new features and that whole need to drink blood. Stefan said so in S1, as did Katherine, who said that even when they didn't have blood that the heart still beat and it felt like sandpaper in their veins. So if I mention pulses quickening, that's why. I understand this isn't really "traditional" vampire canon, but again, it all depends on the legends you're looking at. In any event, I hope you enjoy this next part of the story. Off to the hotel we go! Caroline is slowly starting to crack. Can't wait to write the next chapter!

The sleek black town car that delivered them to their hotel had been interesting. Traffic hadn't been that bad, but she'd still been jerked into Klaus more than a few times and the way he looked down at her each instance caught her off-guard. He didn't look put out, just amused, and maybe—no, no, she couldn't start thinking like that. As soon as it had pulled in front of their hotel, Caroline was out of the back seat before the driver could come and let them out. He'd given her an admonishing look, but she just smiled in that charming way of hers. "Mercy," she told him when he removed her bag from the trunk, and she was rewarded with a slight shake of the man's head at her poor pronunciation. Klaus, on the other hand, laughed at her outright and she glared right back at him for being an ass.

"At least I'm _trying,_" she told him with a huff, "which is more than I can say for you." Caroline had at that point severely underestimated him though, which she discovered when they actually entered the hotel.

At first she didn't even notice—she was too caught up in the glamour, old world mixed with the most modern touches in ways that almost clashed but never quite did—but slowly it started to filter into her brain. First it was the high-pitched laughter of the disgustingly pretty woman at the welcoming desk and the flood of fast-paced words that Caroline couldn't even begin to understand, but then she realized that the response came in a very familiar voice, though it too used the same lilting words and phrases that evaded Caroline's comprehension. The blonde turned and openly stared at Klaus, who was, she assumed, flirting with the woman checking them into their rooms in perfect, natural sounding French. She found herself rolling her eyes because _of course_ he spoke French. He probably spoke a lot of languages after a thousand years, or at least he should. Language learning was a much less bloody hobby than some of his others.

He joined her by the stairwell, indicating the elevator. "Our room is at the to—"

"Whoa, hold on! What? Our room? Klaus I am _not_ sharing a—"

"It's a suite, relax. You won't have to share a bed with me…tonight." He added after a moment with a playful smile on lips too full to ignore.

Caroline felt her heart catch for a moment, and worse, caught herself glancing down at his mouth, "Um, or ever," she corrected, clearing her throat and boarding the elevator with a toss of her hair. He smirked again and Caroline wanted to smack him. He was acting like he'd already won, but what he didn't realize is that she wasn't a prize to be captured. She was doing this so that the Scooby gang in Mystic Falls had time to come up with a plan B. As long as she kept reminding herself of her focus she'd be fine—except when she glanced up into the reflection of the golden doors to find him looking at her. At that moment she felt anything but fine. She looked down again and did her best not to fidget.

_Ding._

It was like a bell chiming from heaven when the elevator announced that they'd arrived at the top floor of rooms (there were higher levels, but those were reserved as night clubs and fine dining on the rooftop terrace, so there were no rooms directly below them). She waited for him to slide the key to grant them entry. He pushed open the door and gestured for her to go first. She wasn't sure when he came in behind her. She'd heard the door shut, but was too busy in her OMFG moment to really care.

The suite was massive as far as hotels went: two bedrooms, one bathroom, a living area, a small kitchen, and a balcony that overlooked the city. Her suitcases were abandoned in the living area and she rushed out onto the balcony. She could see the top of the Eiffel Tower and everything in between. It was breathtaking. Caroline clung to the rail to steady herself and just took it all in.

"A lot different from Mystic Falls, yes?" asked a whisper just behind her ear. A hand came to rest next to hers on the rail, but he didn't trap her there by putting his other arm on the other side of her. Still, he was far too close for comfort, and in spite of that, she didn't move right away.

"Yeah, it's…it's beautiful," she said with a smile and then took her exit to the left to put some distance in between them. "I'm surprised you don't have a house here," she said, trying to sound nonchalant as she walked back in the room to get her things and claim her bedroom.

"I actually prefer to keep my dwellings out of the city. More privacy there. I thought you'd prefer to see Paris, but if you want to go…the countryside is stunning. Fields of lavender and vineyards."

"I'm not going anywhere until I actually get to _see_ Paris," she told him, and realized too late that she'd actually considered going to his home in the countryside, if he had one at all. Maybe he was just postulating. Maybe she needed to stop thinking about him walking through a vineyard in a linen shirt sampling grapes for harvest for his personal collection of wines. Caroline shook her head violently, which won her a questioning look from Klaus. "Jet lag," she explained. Vampires could still have that, right? Whatever. "I'm taking this room," she said, motioning to a large open door by the balcony. It was the master bedroom of the suite, and when she walked in, Caroline went stock still. The bed was massive, and it was elaborately appointed but the rose petals on the bed threw her.

Klaus heard her stuttering, smirking as he walked up behind her. "Is something wrong, sweetheart?"

"Do they think we're gonna…I mean do they think we're like…?"

"Paris _is_ the city of love."

Caroline glared at him over her shoulder. "Well, they will be disappointed then," she huffed a bit, biting her lower lip.

Klaus did something she wasn't expecting then. A hand lifted and the back of his knuckle traced along her jaw. It sent a shiver through her. "You should have eaten, Caroline, you look hungry." She really hoped he was talking about blood and not—oh God.

"I told you how I feel about eating live," she said, but found herself unable to move away.

"I know," he told her and dropped his hand. "In the kitchen. I've ensured that you are well-stocked. B-positive."

"…How did you know that was my favorite?" she asked suspiciously.

"A good guess. It just seemed fitting for you," his voice a little quieter than she was prepared for. He cleared his throat. "Eat something, get cleaned up, rest a bit. Tonight we take on Paris. I have a surprise for you," he told her and then left her to her own devices.

Caroline flopped gracelessly back onto the bed, sending rose petals into the air to shower back down on top of her. Inwardly, she groaned. What had she gotten herself into? She reached over her head and pulled her purse to her, digging through it until she found her phone. It powered on for the first time since they left and it took several minutes for her phone to figure out where the hell it was now, but once it did, her phone started buzzing, dancing across the top of her stomach. Fifteen texts, forty-two missed calls, twenty-eight voicemails—all in less than 24 hours. She groaned and started with the texts. Most of them were from Elena, four of them were from Stefan—all of them played to the tune of _WTF ARE YOU DOING_? "I wish I knew," she murmured to herself. There were actually three missed calls from Tyler and that made her stomach turn in a knot. Caroline sighed and stood up, tucking her phone into her back pocket to go into the bathroom. She wouldn't listen to any of them until she had the shower running to make doubly sure that Klaus wouldn't hear anything.

_We'll figure something out. Caroline, please don't do this. Please come home. I love you._

The others were no less heart-wrenching from Tyler and Elena, Stefan and Bonnie as well. Alaric had the grace to only tell her to be careful. Damon was thankfully silent on the whole matter. She erased all the messages, deleted her inbox and outbox in her texts and then set a privacy lock on her phone before she finally left it alone to get in the shower.

It was nearly an hour before she emerged, in clean, unrumpled clothes with her hair in a towel and no makeup to speak of. She was trying to sneak into the kitchen to grab a bag of blood without him seeing her. She really did feel naked without at least mascara and lip gloss, but when she turned around with a blood bag in her hand she literally ran into him. Her first instinct was to snap at him about personal space, but she held her tongue and averted her eyes. It was amazing how bold a good dab of blush could make you feel, and perhaps when she was alive she could have pushed through that insecurity, but with her emotions heightened it made it more difficult.

Klaus must have sensed it, and because he was a bit of a sadist didn't move to let her retreat, but instead leaned down to try and catch her gaze. "And here I thought you couldn't get more beautiful than when you came to my family's celebration."

For a split second, her eyes looked as though she might have believed him—or at least wanted to, perhaps even welcomed his words, but it was fleeting and replaced by a snort. "Oh please," she said with a soft snort, and forced herself to stand up straight. At least she remembered her manners though, holding up the bag. "Thank you for this," a half-smile accompanied her words. Klaus's only response was to nod, and then he stepped to the side so she could safely exit the kitchen.

"It seems you've caused quite a stir back home, love," he called after her, and Caroline froze. She prayed that no one had been stupid enough to talk about the letter. Rotting in Klaus's basement after he killed all of her friends was not her idea of the prime way to spend eternity.

"They'll be fine," her tone was cool, though she had to force it not to falter. "Elena is safe and really that's all that matters to anyone anyway." She turned to face him. "You included. We already talked about this."

The look he gave her was a stern one, but he didn't argue. It was high on his priority list to ensure the Doppelgänger's safety, though not more important to him, necessarily than Caroline. Even if it was, he wasn't about to admit that to himself, to her, or anyone else. Love, after all, was a vampire's greatest weakness.

Caroline shook her head at the lack of response from him. Maybe this was one big mistake, and she hated him at that moment for making her feel like second best again. She went back to her room and shut the door loudly, leaving Klaus to stand alone in the living room, staring after her. "Elena is not who I brought to Paris," he said under his breath.


	4. A River Runs Through It

A/N: I do apologize for how long this chapter took to produce. I got incredibly busy at work and it was just entirely too stressful so when I got home I was just crashing. Thank you to those of you who have continued to read and to all of my reviewers because you guys make a huge difference to me! I owe this chapter to DGfleetfox, who was amazing and sent me so many wonderful ideas. This one is for you, lovie! Lastly, I will say—enjoy the giddy fluff in this chapter and probably the next, because you know it can't last forever!

_A River Runs Through It_

In spite of Caroline's miniature tantrum, Klaus was determined that he wasn't going to let the blonde spoil his plans for the night. Perhaps the beauty of Paris would warm her heart a bit because so far he certainly hadn't been able to do it on his own. He growled a little to himself and glared when the phone in his pocket did a merry little buzz—reminding him that his sister thought he was a complete idiot for taking off with Caroline like that. He didn't rightly care what Rebekah thought though. When the phone stopped buzzing an equally irritating and merry little chime announced that his dear sister had left another voicemail that he wasn't going to listen to anytime soon. Instead, he left Caroline to sulk and left the hotel altogether to get everything squared away for the evening.

It was well over three hours before Caroline even realized that Klaus was gone, and when she emerged from her bedroom, the large arrangement of fresh flowers only served to irritate her more. How dare he keep doing things to try and win her heart? Didn't he realize that she couldn't be bought? The little card that rested next to the bouquet was scrawled in his neat handwriting. "Caroline, meet me in the lobby at 9:00. Please. – Klaus" The please at the end looked like it had been added after the fact because there wasn't quite enough room in between the last line and his name. She shook her head. It drove her crazy that he was actually _trying_ with her, but at the same time it tugged at her heart in a way that she didn't want to acknowledge. _Elena would never speak to me again_, she thought to herself, though it did occur to her that even after all Damon had put _her_ through that Elena was still speaking to him, more than that even. Who was to say whose sins were more unforgivable? After all, Stefan had torn through the eastern seaboard and Elena had never stopped loving him. _Although that was because of Klaus, too_. But before that—before Elena was ever alive, Stefan had been a monster, and he'd changed. He'd changed because of Lexi and he wasn't even in love with her. _Not that Klaus is in love with you, and he doesn't want to change anyway_, she admonished mentally. Still, as she turned the card over in her hand a few times and finally allowed herself to bury her nose in the flowers, she had to admit that she was at least a _little_ excited to see what Klaus had planned next.

Eight o'clock rolled around and she stared at herself in front of the full length mirror in her room, taking in her appearance front and then in the back. She'd be lying if she said that she hadn't put in a little more effort than normal to make her hair curl at the ends and had spent the extra few minutes to make sure her makeup was flawless. One of the bonuses of undeath was the lack of acne showing up once a month and making her life hell. Sometimes foundation just wasn't enough to tame a really angry chin-cyst (and yes, she HAD stayed home "sick" because of that before). By the time she went downstairs it was about ten after and she saw Klaus pacing in the lobby. It made her grin because she knew he'd expected her to be directly on time. He had a lot to learn about Caroline Forbes. It was always best to be fashionably late, you didn't want to seem too eager. The irritation was etched into the lines of his face as he paced—up until the moment that he looked at her.

She'd chosen skinny jeans tucked into boots with a clingy red silk shirt that dipped low in the front with a deep brown jacket that hugged her middle and flared at her hips. Her smile was almost shy when she looked at him, only holding his eyes for a moment before glancing away. "Sorry I'm late," she said, tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear, "I was getting dressed."

In his mind, he'd intended to continue glaring and tell her that she ought not keep him waiting, but he just didn't have it in him in that moment, and even as he opened his mouth to admonish her the only thing that happened was a smile spreading across full lips. "You look radiant, as always," he told her and offered her an arm. "Come, I don't want us to be late." Even as he held out his arm he didn't actually expect her to take it, but she surprised him when she laced her hand through and rested her palm just above his elbow.

"Where are we going?" she asked almost as soon as they started walking.

"You'll have to see," he told her and pulled her out onto the street, which was still full of tourists and Parisians alike. He led her from there to a dock and onto a riverboat. There were actually a lot of other people who boarded also, which made Caroline incredibly nervous. "None of them are to be harmed," he assured her, guiding her to a table that was sequestered away from most people, but by far had the best view on all sides. He held her chair out for her and she laughed, but did eventually take the seat. The old-world style of chivalry was something lost on men in the twenty-first century.

The dinner cruise along the Seine took off from port and Caroline had a hard time focusing on the dinner menu because she kept looking around at the city lights. Eventually, when the waiter had come back for the second time she made herself look down and then frowned. The menu was completely in French. Caroline sighed loudly and picked up her chair, scooting it over beside Klaus and holding the menu up. "I don't know what any of this says or what to order. What can I get that isn't going to be some kind of weird fish or anything with snails?" The older vampire looked surprised at first at her sudden proximity, but because Klaus played everything cool, he leaned back in his chair a bit to consider the menu.

"Bœuf bourguignon, it's nothing fancy, I'm sure you would like it," He suggested, a subtle dig perhaps at her lack of worldly experience, perhaps? Blue eyes narrowed at him in response (was he calling her uncultured? She was, but still, how rude!), but that was precisely what she ordered—or more specifically, what he ordered for her alongside a bottle of wine that tasted incredibly expensive (and she was sure that it should have been).

Half a bottle in and Caroline was just on the other side of tipsy when she stood up from her chair and went to the rail of the boat to watch the city. The Eiffel Tower was breathtaking all lit up with the reflection twinkling in the water. She heard him come up behind her, but she didn't turn until he placed his hand next to hers on the railing. "Thank you," she said out of seemingly nowhere as they passed by the large structure. Klaus quirked a brow, waiting for her to continue. "For all of this," she said, gesturing with her hand to the city in front of them. "Thank you for bringing me here," and there was nothing but sincerity there. Even though in her mind she hadn't meant for this trip to mean anything other than to give her friends time to figure out how to break the blood ties between original and their progeny, in this moment right now, being away from Mystic Falls meant everything. Maybe it was the wine talking. Later on she'd probably tell herself exactly that. She glanced down and realized that their hands were touching. A live band on board the ship was playing something that she didn't recognize, but it was slow and heady like the wine and the sloshing of the river. Her hand moved to cover his own, fingers curling around to his palm. He looked surprised until she spoke, "Come dance with me," she said.

"You want to dance, right now?" he asked with an easy smirk, though there was a certain level of uncertainty in his eyes.

"Klaus, when am I _ever_ going to get the chance to dance on a boat in the middle of a river in Paris again?" she asked impatiently, tugging at his hand.

He smiled, and eventually gave in, sweeping her into his arms with a twirl and dipping her down enough to make her head spin. "Every night if you wished it," he told her earnestly. Why was he so captivated by this young woman, hardly more than a girl? He didn't understand it, but when she looked up at him and smiled in her very Caroline way, the question didn't even matter. "Although I think you'd enjoy the Piazza Navonna in Rome almost as much, and the shopping on the Via del Corso is legendary."

"I do like shopping," she pointed out as he lifted her back up. Caroline had to catch herself against him as the city lights felt like they were spinning. He was a very consistent anchor though, it seemed and the way she looked at him it was as though she was actually _looking_ at him for the first time. "I want to go everywhere," she told him very seriously (or as seriously as she could when she was half-drunk).

Klaus smiled, no sarcasm evident, it wasn't guarded, just a genuine sort of smile as he watched the lights from the riverbank flash in her eyes. "I'll take you," he told her for the second time, and this time she didn't balk. Instead, she just watched him with a gaze that went straight through him and he realized his attraction came from her being not really his equal, but his foil. She balanced his wickedness with her kindness, made him want to be better for her—at least in some ways (Caroline or no Caroline, he was still Niklaus Mikaelson).

The music had ended well over a minute ago, but she was frozen there in his grasp, watching him. For just a moment, she peered through dark lashes, lingering on his lips more than she should have, but then the ship's horn sounded and the breathlessness of that moment evaporated. Caroline took a step back, looking embarrassed and cleared her throat before returning to their table so she could finish her dinner, which was now cold; but to be honest, she couldn't taste anything anyway because her senses were too focused elsewhere—like the way her blood was roaring in her ears and the way her mouth tingled in anticipation of things that had nothing to do with food. She spent the rest of the dinner cruise feeling as though there was a lead ball settled in her stomach that even the beauty of Paris by night couldn't relieve. She wasn't sure what was happening—or worse, perhaps she was—but it wasn't good. Klaus, however, was entirely pleased with this new development.

When they returned to the hotel room, Caroline announced loudly that she was exhausted and was going to bed and then promptly locked herself in her room. There was a text message from Elena waiting for her. "Bonnie is getting closer. Just hold on a little longer and you can come home. We miss you. Please be careful." Caroline growled and threw the phone down on the bed in frustration and then started pacing. She even went out onto the patio to pace some more, hoping the fresh air would clear the wine from her head because that had to be what had even caused the thought to cross her mind that she should _kiss_ him. Once she realized that she'd already metabolized the wine and was completely clear headed it only served to piss her off more. This couldn't be happening.

She was so far lost in thought that when the sliding glass door behind her opened up it scared her half to death and she turned to face Klaus fangs bared and prepared to fight. Until she realized that it was, of course, Klaus—a very…_shirtless_ Klaus with sleep pants that rode entirely too low on his hips. "Oh…" she gasped, biting her lower lip and then remembering that she wasn't supposed to be appreciating his half-naked physique. "What?" she asked, not having to try hard to infuse irritation into her voice, though she was more irritated that he'd come out here shirtless and taken her by surprise than the fact that he was out here at all.

"Are you alright?" he asked, knowing good and well that she wasn't, or at least she thought he should have known that she wasn't, and now he was probably just goading her! It frustrated her further. Why wasn't he wearing a shirt? Damn it.

"I'm fine, just…I'm fine," she said too quickly.

Caroline went to brush past him to get back inside, but he caught her by the shoulders and didn't have the sympathy for her inner turmoil to even hold her at arm's length. No, where he held her was directly against his bare chest and abdomen. "You don't seem fine."

Well she wasn't fine _now._ Caroline found it hard to breathe suddenly and there she went staring at his mouth again. _IhateyouIhateyouIhateyou,_ she kept repeating in her mind, but it did her no good, and that cat-with-the-canary smile that spread slowly across his lips didn't help either. Caroline growled again and pushed away from him with a frustrated "Ugh!" before storming back into her room, leaving him on the balcony looking entirely too cheerful for Klaus.

He did love it when he was winning.


	5. Midnight Snack

A/N: I'm not even going to try and justify how long it's been since I've updated, but I hope this makes up for it, at least a little. I promise not to be such a slacker in the future!

_Midnight Snack_

In her room, Caroline fell face-first onto her bed and inhaled deeply in her pillow, doing her best not to scream. She was so angry with herself and with him, but more with herself because she'd let her mind run away with her. Everyone back home was so worried about her and she couldn't even hold it together for them? What was the matter with her? They would all think she was a total traitor, and Tyler—poor Tyler! She sighed heavily before she sat up and hugged the pillow to her chest, staring across the room at the door. She'd have to go back out there to wash her face so that she didn't look like a raccoon the next time he saw her, but she really didn't feel like facing him, especially if he felt the need to continue parading around shirtless! She waited until their was silence before she braved the living room to get to the large, opulent bathroom in the suite. Her makeup was washed off and her teeth brushed. For a long time she just stood there, letting her weight rest on her hands as she examined herself in the mirror. Still looked like Caroline. Seventeen forever, Miss Mystic Falls, Caroline. So why did she feel suddenly like she was looking at a stranger?

To be honest, she was dreading going back to her room, and just knew she'd run into him again, but the fates were on her side and Klaus was in his own room with the door cracked and on the phone. Caroline crept quickly back to her room, shut the door, and locked it. She changed into pajamas that she regretted bringing because they were silk and short and it would give the wholly wrong message if he were to see her in them. Caroline sunk down into bed and fluffed the rest of the rose petals onto the floor before burrowing into the over-stuffed down comforter and pillows. When she turned off the lamp beside her bed, she was left in the dark, save for the glow from her cell phone, which she then used to send Elena a quick text back: "Hurry please. I'm safe for now. Deleting my messages, don't reply until I text you again. xoxo". The phone was tucked under her pillow and Caroline allowed herself to finally drift off to sleep...

The clock read 3:00 in the morning and silence pervaded the entire hotel room. Caroline got up slowly and moved as quietly as she could to the door, listening, but hearing no sound. The door creaked open and she didn't bother with any sort of light. There was enough filtering in through the balcony door to cast the room in a dim dusk. She went to the fridge to get another bag of blood, squeezing it a few times to make it less sluggish before she bit off the end and began to drink it with slow relish. His room was dark and she found her gaze lingered there too long. Her lips pursed around the "straw" of the bag and she sucked a little harder out of irritation (frustration, perhaps?).

"Midnight snack?" the voice purred behind her, and Caroline jumped. It sent blood everywhere, dribbling down her chin and chest until it disappeared between her breasts beneath the lace and silk of the cami she wore. "My apologies," Klaus said in a low tone, brushing her hand aside when she went to clean herself up. "Allow me." There was no asking for permission this time, and before Caroline could protest she felt his hot mouth on her—entirely too close to very sensitive areas as his tongue lapped up the trail of blood from her cleavage to her collar bone and then moved to her chin with the same careful consideration. He traced her lips with her tongue and that was as far as he got before her own self-control snapped and she pushed him roughly up against the refrigerator, jarring the whole appliance. Her mouth claimed his and Klaus wasn't shy about any of it. She felt his hands along her body, one tangling in her hair to pull her closer, the other finding overheated skin beneath the lavender fabric. As quickly as she'd pinned him, she found herself in a similar position against the counter, though he lifted her enough to sit her on top of it. Long legs wrapped around his bare midsection, not allowing him room to move. It seemed to suit him fine judging from the way he pressed against her. His mouth moved from hers, down along her jaw and to her neck. Her head was spinning and the rush of blood in her ears was a deafening buzz.

...buzz.

...buzz.

...buzz.

Caroline sat up, bleary eyed as she tried to orient herself and figure out what was going on. Her heart was pounding and it felt like she had lava running through her veins. The buzzing, she realized, was her phone ringing. _Tyler. Shit._ Caroline tried to catch her breath before she answered the phone in a breathy whisper. "Hello? Hi."

"Caroline! Are you okay? What are you doing? Where are you? I'm coming to get you."

"No!" she snapped loudly and then winced, lowering her voice back to a whisper. "No, don't do that. You don't need to be here, you'll be in danger. I'm fine. Don't worry."

"Caroline, you don't know him...he's..."

"I know, Tyler. But this is for the best right now. Everyone is safe this way. Just...trust me, okay? Have a little faith."

"...I miss you," he said after a long pause and Caroline sighed.

"I miss you too, I'll be home soon though. Promise. Everything is fine. I've got it all under control," she even almost believed that smooth lie, but with her heart still feeling like she'd run a marathon, Caroline knew that everything was _anything_ but under control.

She hit the end button and stared at the blinking "call ended" screen, wanting to throw her phone across the room. She also wanted to march right into Klaus's room and demand to know if he'd caused that dream, but then she'd be admitting to dreaming about him. The last thing she needed was to give him anymore ammunition. A glance over to the clock told her that it was 5:22 in the morning and her skin was still tingling with the memory of something that hadn't occurred. Everything was spinning wildly out of hand and she had to figure out how to put a stop to it. Coffee seemed like a great place to start.

It wasn't quite day-break when she made her way out onto the balcony (thankfully in a silky robe) with a large cup of coffee. She sat down at the small table and leaned back, watching as the sky faded from black to a fuzzy gray. Her mind was so far away that she didn't notice at first when Klaus joined her silently (and with a shirt on this time). He had a cup as well. The ancient vampire didn't speak, just sat on the other side of the table and propped his feet up on the railing. They watched the Paris sunrise without words—but what could either of them have said to enhance the beauty of that moment? "Breakfast?" he finally asked once the sun had peaked and the city had started to come alive with the usual daily fare.

"That would be good," she said, just before he'd decided she wasn't going to answer at all. Finally, blue eyes turned to look at him and he was confused by the worry on her face.

"What's the matter, Caroline?"

"Tyler called me," she answered before she thought of it.

His face grew dark. "Did he now?"

"He said he was going to come and get me. I told him not to bother. He doesn't know where we are."

Klaus looked skeptical, but accepted her answer. "Best that you keep it that way, love."

"I know," she said, turning her gaze down to her empty coffee cup. "I'll go get ready..." She stood and went to move by him, waiting for him to lower his legs so that she could pass. He didn't. Caroline looked down at him and cocked an eyebrow. He mimicked the expression.

"What's the magic word?" he taunted, trying to lighten the mood. Caroline seemed too somber for that to be the only thing that happened.

"Don't be a d-bag?" she asked in a sing-song voice, and immediately wished that she hadn't. Klaus was up before she could blink—perilously close, enough that when she breathed it caused her chest to brush against his.

"That's not very nice, Caroline," he murmured dangerously.

Her gaze didn't falter meeting his own. She didn't worry about him trying to compel her. "Maybe you're rubbing off on me," she said, just over a whisper.

He leaned down closer as though he might kiss her, and she found herself hoping for that just to break the suffocating tension, it was too easy to imagine that his lips felt even better in waking reality than in a dream, but instead he just narrowed his eyes at her before moving out of her way. "Go get dressed, we have a full day ahead."

Caroline visibly deflated and nodded, chewing so hard on her lower lip that she thought she really might draw blood as she walked back into the hotel a little too quickly to get ready for the day. She hated that once again she felt the tingling all over. This was definitely _not_ getting things under control!


	6. Prelude To A Breakdown

_Prelude to a breakdown…_

The day was getting underway in Paris, but in Mystic Falls it was almost two in the morning and everyone on the home team, mostly, had returned to their homes. That suited Damon just fine because although he and Rebekah hated each other, the sex was too good to just let it go, especially since Elena and Stefan were back to normal—well, as normal as it got with the two of them. There was too much angst there for his liking, but Rebekah was simple. They knew what they wanted from each other and once it was done it was done. She was smarting over Stefan, he was miserable over Elena. It worked.

That was how it had come to pass that Rebekah was standing by Damon's desk, pouring them both a class of scotch when she noticed a letter there that was addressed to Elena. That was odd. She lifted the bottle to make the pour go more slowly as she skimmed the contents of the letter and her eyes narrowed. She knew that little twit had been up to something! The crystal cork was placed back in the ornate container and the letter made its way, folded, into her pocket before she returned to the rest of her night. Niklaus was a big boy, and this new revelation could wait until she'd had her fill for the night. He was the one who had gotten himself into that situation anyway—maybe this would teach him a modicum of humility to realize that he'd been played by a mere child by their standards. Rebekah was stung that he had refused to take any of her calls and had not responded to her repeated texts. He could be so careless. She looked forward to watching this whole plan crash down around this tiny town.

Genuine beauty. It was all around. Caroline had spent the day with Klaus seeing the usual sights that everyone wanted to see in Paris. Breakfast was taken in a small café by the Eiffel Tower and lunch had been a surprise picnic in the Jardin du Luxembourg. Mystic Falls? Where was that again? Caroline felt incredibly guilty that she kept forgetting that she was here on a very specific mission—and that mission was certainly not to be enjoying his company. It wasn't to be learning about his past, or sharing embarrassing stories about her childhood. It wasn't to open up and talk about what it had been like when her father had come out of the closet or to sympathize with how much of an outsider that Klaus felt even among his siblings. And it definitely was not for _her_ to be the one coming up with surprises for _him._

"So…" she began as they were walking back towards the hotel. Her hands were in her back pockets because too many times in the last hour had she felt the need to reach out and grasp his own.

"So?" he queried in return and glanced sideways towards her with a quirked brow.

"Imighthavekindasignedusupfor acookingclasstonight," the words came out strung together. Now that she'd done it, Caroline was worried about what his reaction would be.

"A…you what?" he asked, trying to get clarification from the girl who ended up speaking a million miles a minute when she got flustered. He found it endearing, mostly.

"A cooking class. Desserts, actually," she explained, clearing her throat and rubbing the back of her neck. "It's only like three hours, well, some people said closer to four on the reviews, but I think it would be fun. I mean let's be honest, I'm not a very good baker, not that I need to be anymore, but I figure if I'm going to live forever then I might as well start adding some things to my impressive list of Things I Can Do Just Because, right? I mean you have art, but you were probably good at that before you were dead, but you've gotten better, I'm sure. So really, if I can make a box of brownies before this, then now that I'm, well…now that I've got more time, I think I should expand my horizons," she said with a dramatic hand gesture to try and distract from the fact that she was blushing. Niklaus was looking skeptical. Caroline bit her lower lip for a moment. "You don't have to go if you really don't want to. I don't know, I just thought it would be something…nice." For the two of them to do together. Not that she was going to address that last part.

Klaus hesitated, and it showed on his face briefly before disappearing behind his usual mask. There had been a strange tension between them that afternoon that she'd been purposely avoiding and he hadn't been trying necessarily to cultivate it, but now she wanted to drag him to a cooking class? A dessert making class at that? It just seemed too intimate coming from the girl who had been so eager to keep her distance from him. He didn't trust it. He didn't trust _her._ Yet there was a part of him—a very small part—that wanted to believe it was true and that wanted to believe the dance of laughter in her blue eyes had been because of him all day and even now the shy uncertainty that stained her cheeks belonged to him as well. "As you wish," he said and tossed his hands up in surrender. "Cooking desserts it is."

"Great! I have to change before we go and we have a couple more hours before the class starts anyway. It's not far from Mont-mar-tra—I know I didn't say it right. Stop giving me that look. You know what I'm talking about."

Klaus couldn't help but laugh then and shake his head. The bolder of the two, he looped his arm over Caroline's shoulders to guide her across the street back to their hotel, careful to separate once they were safely on the other side. They both reached for the door at the same time to enter the lobby and his hand fell on top of her own. Caroline looked up at him, transfixed for a moment by their closeness before withdrawing her hand and stepping back so that he could open the door for her. The bright smile she gave when he did reminded him to be thankful that after a thousand years that his good manners were still ingrained. "Lady Caroline," he said with a sweeping gesture, just to play up the moment.

"Sir Niklaus," she said with a curtsy before she entered.

"Actually, love, that would be _Lord _Niklaus," he said with a smirk.

"Please," she said, resting the back of her hand on his chest so that she could tug on the collar of his shirt lightly. "I wouldn't want it to go to your head."

The blonde vampire was afforded with a withering look from the ancient, but she was unaffected as she all but bounced over to the elevator.


	7. Dessert Course

A/N: For everyone who has been reviewing—I truly thank you. Like from the bottom of my heart. It makes me want to keep writing because I know people are actually enjoying reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. This whole chapter is pure and unabashed fluff. Enjoy it now, kids. "Even the sun sets in paradise" and all that. ;)

The Dessert Course

"Is that what you're wearing?" she asked after she'd been brave enough to venture over to where his room was located. Caroline leaned against the door frame, which had been ajar. Klaus was dressing in front of the mirror and had a light blue button down shirt tucked into charcoal slacks that were torturously tight (for her, he was quite comfortable, including in her discomfort). Caroline forced herself to draw her eyes back up and meet his gaze in the mirror. Judging from the smirk on his lips, he'd caught her peeking. She flushed brightly and cleared her throat, lifting a hand to brush the hair out of her face. "Anyway, I was just asking because it could get a little messy and I didn't want you to ruin anything." After being caught blatantly staring at his arse, Caroline refused to meet his eyes again and instead adjusted the hem of the lacy shirt she was wearing.

"You're in white and you're lecturing me about getting dirty?" he quipped.

"Duh, what color do you think flour and sugar are? You'll never see it on me."

"Mm, and are those all of the ingredients we'll be using?"

"Well no, but, that's what aprons are for."

"Then I'm sure my shirt will survive…" he paused for a beat before taking in his reflection and then added, "and so will my pants."

Damn him. Caroline bit her lower lip and turned to leave the room. She decided eating before she left would probably be a better idea than not, and spent the rest of the time that he was getting ready slowly nursing a cold bag of B+. She noticed there was an envelope on the table addressed to Klaus and she picked it up, trying to discern where it was from.

"That came today from Rebekah," he supplied the answer to the question she hadn't asked out loud. "I've ignored it like I have her texts and voicemails. She can be so tedious," he said, and plucked the letter from her hands, and then tossed it back on the table.

"Is Mystic Falls falling apart without you?" Caroline teased.

Klaus moved closer, catching her with one hand by the hip and pulling her a little closer, "She's jealous that I'm here with you."

Caroline felt the heat rise into her cheeks again and looked away. She couldn't bear that intense gaze for too long. It made her feel vulnerable. When he didn't immediately move away, she stole a glance up and was taken aback by the way he was looking at her. That look made it hard to remember how much he'd put them through. But Elena had forgiven Damon after everything he'd done, hadn't she? Was this so different? _Yes, yes Caroline it is very different_, she admonished herself, but realized too late that she still hadn't looked away either. "We…we should go. I don't want to be late."

Klaus smiled and motioned for her to lead the way. "Après vous," he crooned. Caroline had no idea what he said (and to be honest did not care. He could have recited the phone book to her), but assumed it meant she should start walking.

She deposited the half-finished bag of blood back into the refrigerator and grabbed her purse off the small kitchenette counter. Caroline didn't bother looking behind her because she already knew he'd be right there. She could sense his closeness, and for once, it felt more comforting than oppressing, particularly when he placed a hand on the small of her back to guide her along the busy cross-walk. At first, she was worried about making conversation for the walk across Paris to 21 Rue Custine, but she shouldn't have.

"Have you considered, Caroline, what's next?" he asked after a few minutes of walking in silence.

"Well, I thought, you know, it would be baking and—"

"I meant after Paris," he interrupted.

Caroline stopped walking and Klaus took a few steps before he realized she wasn't still with him. He turned around and came back the three paces to stand in front of her. "You can't really want to go back to Mystic Falls after all of this," he spoke before she could say anything. "There is so much more to see. So much more than you can even imagine."

"I know, it's just…I don't know," she sighed and dropped her hands in defeat. "I just never really thought about what life would be like outside of Mystic Falls. I had this whole idea of what my life was going to be like and now look at where I am. I'm in Paris, Klaus. As in France, Paris, not just some little town called Paris in north Virginia, but THE Paris, and with you—you of all people in the entire world who has put us through so much and almost killed me."

"I did save your life though," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but you were the reason I was in that position to start with—but that's not the point. The point is that I should be terrified of you. I should have never left and here I am and it's beautiful and I'm enjoying it and I'm enjoying _you_ and I don't know what happens after Paris because I can't think past what's going to happen five minutes from now." Caroline looked so put out in that moment, but Klaus hadn't missed the significance of the statement in the middle of it.

"What do you _want_ to happen five minutes from now?" he asked, moving perilously close to her again.

Caroline found herself distracted by his mouth again and she swallowed—hard. "I want to bake something delicious and enjoy that chocolate isn't going to make me fat or break out," she said, chewing on her lower lip and looking away so that she didn't have to look at him.

He smirked and put an arm over her shoulders and got them walking again. "Then I suppose, love, we ought to hurry up and not stand around in the middle of the sidewalk." He got no resistance from her, but just a smile as she fell into step alongside him. Klaus really did enjoy it when he was winning.

_Dans la classe…_

There were quite a few other people in the class, mostly groups of three or more, some with kids, some just traveling companions and friends. Chef Defehr had already decided that they were on their honeymoon and Caroline had been too embarrassed to say anything. Klaus, on the other hand, had played right into it by pulling her close and kissing the side of her head affectionately as though they had been a newly married couple. Caroline huffed. "Here," she said and unceremoniously draped the apron over Klaus's head. He tied his apron easily and then brushed her hands out of the way to finish tying her own. Caroline glanced over her shoulder at him, blue eyes almost shy as she regarded the reverent way that he took on his task.

It was not at all the way he was regarding her about ten minutes later when she was doubled over in laughter after he'd started the mixer on high with only the dry ingredients in the bowl and flour had practically exploded all over them both. In fact, he looked rather murderous—moreso when the chef came over and tsk'd at him and started instructing him on the proper way to do it. Generally speaking, Caroline knew that it could become a very dire situation in a matter of seconds, but she couldn't stop laughing, and ultimately, Klaus just snorted in derision and declared that baking wasn't a _true_ art form, as Chef Defehr had called it. That made Caroline laugh even harder, as well as the rest of the class. He was brooding, she couldn't help it, when she stood up she grabbed his hands from where they were tucked against him with crossed arms and forced him to uncross and look down at her. It didn't seem to matter how angry he was, the look on her face and the sparkle of laughter-inspired tears in her eyes had him smiling as well. Kind of. "So glad I could amuse you," he practically grumbled.

"Oh. My. God. You're _pouting_!" she exclaimed and giggled again. "Stop that," she said, reaching into the bowl next to them and smearing flour across the top of his nose, which went perfectly well with the flour covering the rest of him. "It doesn't fit you at all," her voice dropped, "but neither does killing a room full of people, so...I guess this is better than that."

"I would not kill them, Caroline. You asked that I not do it in front of you. I will respect that. Until you leave, anyway," he eyed the chef again and got a hard jab in the ribs from the smaller blonde before she went back to the task at hand—which involved the mixer and not slinging flour all over the kitchen. Klaus stood by, playing with the various utensils that were laid out.

"I'm surprised you don't know how to cook," she said, cracking another egg into the mixer.

"That was always Elijah's realm," he said, gesturing absently with a wooden spoon. "He would cook these elaborate dinners back when we used to try and be a family." Caroline didn't have to look at him, she could hear the sting of bitterness in his voice. She decided to try and change the subject.

"Well, if I can't microwave it or put it in a crock pot, it usually turns into a disaster, so this is probably going to be awful anyway, so try not to judge, okay?" she wrinkled her nose when she said it in a way that made Klaus want to lean over and kiss it. He resisted that much, but had been steadily moving closer to her. "Here, try it and tell me." When she turned with a spoon covered in batter she ran right into him and found herself pinned between the table and his body. Her heart fluttered and her body heated when he leaned forward to run his tongue along the edge of the spoon, never taking his eyes off her own.

He ran his finger along the other side of the spoon and then held it to her lips. It was a dare. Caroline knew instinctively that this was not a good idea at all—no, it was a very bad idea, and she couldn't even use YOLO as an excuse because now she lived forever, which meant a very, very long time in the future of facing the consequences of her actions in the present. Still, the way he was looking at her, waiting, she couldn't stop herself. Pink lips parted and he went to smear the batter on her tongue, but she didn't let him. Instead, her mouth closed around his finger, suckling softly. He could feel her tongue moving against him and his eyes went wide. Caroline could feel almost immediately the affect that she was having on him, but their moment was interrupted by the chef clearing his throat just behind Klaus. If she thought that he'd looked murderous before—it was nothing compared to what he looked like in that moment.

She giggled again and bit the end of his finger when she let it go and then apologized sheepishly. No one else had particularly seemed to notice, thankfully. When the chef walked away, she glanced up to Klaus and smirked triumphantly. If only because he couldn't know how much he affected her, but he couldn't hide the same. Klaus glared at her and shifted uncomfortably before leaning on the counter to hide his arousal while Caroline poured the batter into the molds. Fortunately, the molten chocolate cakes didn't take long to bake—seven minutes and then they were out again and being turned over onto plates. The first bite was heaven. Caroline groaned, "Better than sex," she murmured.

"Perhaps with Tyler," he snarked. Caroline glared at him and Klaus returned the gesture with an innocent shrug. "Don't look at me, you're the one who said it."

"I meant in general," she pointed out, poking in his direction with her fork.

"Considering you've never been with someone who _actually_ knows what they're doing, I don't think it's a very fair comparison. And no, Damon Salvatore doesn't count."

Caroline went absolutely scarlet. How did he even know about that? Then again, he knew that she'd been Miss Mystic Falls, as well as other details about her life that she'd certainly never told him herself. "Well…well…" she had nothing. Caroline _hmph_'d! at him and tossed her hair over her shoulder to go back to eating her cake. "Doesn't matter," she pointed out, lifting the plate so that she could turn and face him. "Do you see this? I am having my cake and eating it too. I'm not thinking about Damon. Or Tyler." After she said the words she asked herself if she'd said that to cater to his ego or because she actually meant it. Unfortunately, she realized that it was the truth, whether or not she'd wanted to mean it or not. Her words though had caused one of those rare, sincere smiles on Klaus's face that didn't come from death and destruction. It was a reaction—she smiled as well and then offered him a bite of her cake, picking a piece off with her fingers. She even fed it to him, or started to. At the last minute, she decided to be contrary and smushed it against his nose. Klaus glared venomously and Caroline squealed with laughter, quickly depositing the plate and running out of the classroom.

He gave chase, catching up to her out in the street, where he picked her up from behind and spun her around, growling as though he might actually tear her throat out, it caused her to laugh even louder. People were staring and she didn't even care. When he put her down, she turned in his arms and didn't even think about it—she leaned up onto her toes and pulled him down at the same time and kissed him right there in the middle of the street. Cars honked angrily and she didn't care about that either. Klaus picked her up and carried her to the sidewalk, where she did finally stop kissing him. When their eyes met again they both looked absolutely shocked (no, she did, he looked quite pleased with himself) about what had just transpired. "Um…that didn't happen," Caroline said as though that would erase it. "Seriously, that did not just happen. This isn't happening." Her hands came up to push the hair out of her face and she started pacing. "Oh my God, Elena will _kill_ me."

"Need I remind you of everything she's forgiven of Stefan and Damon?"

"They never actually tried to kill her though, you did, and you tried to kill me, and you almost did kill me, and you killed other people that we knew. You killed Jenna! You killed Bonnie's mom. Not directly, but it was your fault. She's not going to forgive you for that. And she's not going to forgive me if I fall—" Caroline stopped. No, no, she was not going to go there.

Klaus stood there, gob smacked at what she'd almost revealed. "Caroline…" he began, but she held up her hand to cut him off.

"Uh uh. Nope. I'm not listening. You are not allowed to talk right now. You are not allowed to talk anymore ever. Or look at me. You can't do that either." Caroline was so serious when she was speaking that he couldn't help but laugh with incredulity at her.

"I shall not speak of it again," he said, holding up his hand to "swear" himself to not bringing up the kiss again. Caroline nodded her acceptance of that and was hesitant, but did place her hand in his own when he offered it to lead her back to the hotel for the night.


	8. Secrets and Sins

A/N: Thank you thank you thank you! Everyone who reviewed and left such kind words. It means so much, seriously. Thank you. I find that sometimes I forget where my timeline is since this is based before the clusterf*ck that was the end of S3. My goodness!

A/N2 (9/18) - Some folks have expressed confusion about why she's leaving, so I'm editing this a bit to include the content of the letter in question.

Secrets and Sins

_Mystic Falls, 7:00 PM_

Caroline: I'm not coming back. I don't know where we're going after this, but I'm not coming back.

Elena stared at the text in utter disbelief. She passed the phone over to Bonnie, whose brows knit in disapproval. "She's not serious," the witch responded and handed the phone back to Elena. "She can't be serious. Caroline wouldn't do that." Bonnie seemed so completely sure of that fact that the conviction in her voice was unshakable. Elena wasn't quite as certain.

Elena: Are you serious?

Caroline: Yes. Don't be mad at me, please. He's just…Klaus isn't who you think. I mean he is, but... There's so much more to him.

Elena: Caroline, you know better than that. Don't let him fool you.

Caroline: I'm not. Elena, I love you. I love you so much. I want you to live and have an amazing and beautiful life, but I want one too. Now you're safe. And so am I.

"He's compelled her," Elena concluded after the last text. "We have to do something, Bon. She's not thinking right. She isn't safe. What if he kills her?"

"Doubtful," came a deeper, masculine voice. Elena and Bonnie both jumped. Stefan held his hands up and grinned sheepishly, "Sorry, I wasn't eavesdropping."

"Yes you were, but more importantly, how do you know that he won't kill her? Stefan, this isn't like her to do something this impulsive. Caroline is the planner. She plans things. She plans everything." Elena looked lost. She couldn't believe that Caroline had meant anything she'd said in those messages.

"Plans don't always work out the way we intend them to, Elena. Caroline has…" he tried to think of a good way to put it, "Things are different when you're suddenly faced with the prospect of forever."

Elena didn't like that logic and it was evident on her face. Bonnie's cool composure just said simply that she thought Stefan was stark raving mad and he couldn't possibly be right. Then again, things had changed a lot from her perspective too since she discovered her powers. It was just one of those things that Elena, in this case, couldn't relate to. She was human, she had no powers, there was nothing that made her more than a teenage girl—if you didn't count being the doppelgänger and having vampires alternately lusting for or wanting to kill her. "What about Tyler?" Elena asked as a last-ditch effort to make sense of how this couldn't actually be Caroline's decision.

The only response she got was a shrug from the vampire. Stefan wasn't nearly as old as any of the Originals, but he was nearly five times Elena's age and he'd learned a few things over the years when it came to relationships. He could see that he wasn't going to get anywhere here though and he held his hands up in defeat and backed out of the room. "Okay, okay, he compelled her," he said and then turned and walked away. He didn't see the sour look that Elena and Bonnie gave each other in response.

"We have to do something," Elena and Bonnie said at the same time.

"But what?" Elena asked, running her hand back through her hair to shift it from one shoulder to another.

"I don't know yet, but we'll figure something out. We just have to trust Caroline to keep herself safe until then," Bonnie consoled.

_Paris 1:15 AM_

Caroline tossed her phone onto the bed and walked out to the living room. She'd showered, changed and pulled her hair up. She didn't care what Elena said, she was content. Walking out into the living room, she found Klaus reclined on the couch watching a nature documentary about wolves in the Canadian wilderness. Caroline flopped down and leaned over him and took the remote. "Stop. You are a walking cliché." He didn't protest, but he did give her a strange look as she scrolled through the channels.

"Oh and you're not?" he asked when she settled on Say Yes To The Dress. He rolled his eyes and she laughed but changed it.

"It's not like I'm going to have a wedding anyway," she said with a shrug, bypassing a few more things that she knew would make him absolutely cringe.

"You don't know that, Caroline. Forever is a very long time," he pointed out.

"I've never met a married vampire," she countered and then settled on an old black and white horror film. Klaus let the marriage topic go, and instead gave Caroline a blank stare when she stopped changing channels on Nosferatu. Caroline glanced over and met his gaze and then grinned widely. "What? It's like science class. Look at how we've evolved! Now we even sparkle," she said with a wink. When his expression didn't change from the deadpan, she pulled one of the pillows from behind her and smacked him with it. She received a yellow-eyed growl in return, which just made her laugh. Caroline then did something he wasn't expecting, she shifted her weight so that instead of leaning away from him, she was actually leaning _in_ to him. For a moment he was frozen, unsure exactly of what he should do, but eventually, Klaus settled and draped an arm over her, his fingers stroking her forearm where their bodies connected.

Her own skin betrayed her, forming goosebumps beneath his touch. Caroline bit her lip and shifted beneath the grazing of his fingers. Blue eyes shifted up to regard him. His eyes were very fixed on the tv, but he knew she was watching him. Caroline couldn't stand the moment. It felt too normal. Like this wasn't the Evil Hybrid who had terrorized her and her friends, who had killed people she loved, who had nearly killed her as well. She sighed heavily, snuggling down into his side and tried to watch the movie.

"Something the matter, love?" he asked, still not taking his eyes away because he was worried, not that he would admit it, at what he would see if their eyes met again.

"Everything is the matter," she said almost miserably. "I texted Elena earlier and told her I wasn't coming home," she confessed. "And now she probably thinks I'm the worst person on earth." She felt Klaus tense beneath her and that was the point when Caroline pushed herself up to a half-sitting position. "Hey," she said, waiting for him to clench his jaw tight enough not to show any sort of emotion before he'd look at her. "I told her I wanted to. I told her that there's more to you than who you've been."

"I am still that person," he warned, his tone almost venomous.

"Yeah, you are, and you can be kind of a complete d-bag, but if I've learned anything over the last week, it's that there is more than just that." He didn't look like he believed her in the slightest. "I wouldn't be here otherwise. You're so convinced that no one can see past the image that you present, well I've got news for you—I'm in high school, okay, everything that people does is image and you have to be able to see past that if you want to figure out who your real friends are."

"You consider us friends?" he replied, almost bemused.

"I…I don't know what you would call us," she admitted, looking away.

"We are complete opposites," he supplied. "The light to my dark, the beauty to my beast."

"Oh don't go there, Klaus," she said with a groan and then laughed, turning back to face him. She hadn't realized until she saw the look on his face that he'd actually been serious when he'd said it, as cliché as it had sounded. Caroline changed her approach, not wanting to make him feel like she was laughing at him. Klaus was, after all, a very proud man. "Whatever it is that we are…it's…good. Whatever it is. Just like it is. I don't know where it will go, but I know that I'm happy," she said and settled back down into their companionable snuggle again to finish the movie. She felt him relax against her and about five minutes later, the lightest of brushes of his lips against the top of her head.

That was all she remembered from the night before. The sun was streaming in and she found herself alone on the couch, but covered up with a blanket and a pillow tucked beneath her head. Caroline squinted into the sunlight and sat up, stretching languidly. She wondered where Klaus was. There was no sign of him. Slowly, she stood up and walked over towards the kitchenette. She noticed there was an unfolded piece of paper on the table. Perhaps he'd left her a note? When she picked it up though—the world stood still. Caroline instantly recognized her own handwriting.

_Elena,_

_Please don't be mad. Ok, you're going to be mad, but just hear me out. We need time to figure out what to do without Klaus trying to make you a walking blood bag for his psycho hybrid breeding program so…I'm taking him up on his offer. He said he'd take me anywhere I wanted to go, so I'm going. I don't know where. I'll keep my cell phone though, I hope, but if not I'll find a way to contact you and let you know I'm alive. Don't try to find me, no one else needs to be in danger because of this, and for now you'll be safe. Kind of. As safe as you can be here. I love you, and Bonnie, and Matt. I'll be fine. Just try not to take forever in figuring out plan B. Ok? Tell my mom I'm sorry and tell Tyler, if you hear from him, that I'm sorry and I love him and I'll be back._

_Hugs and kisses,_

_Caroline_

In the back of her mind, she could hear his warning. _If I find out this is a trick, I will bring you back here and kill everyone you love in front of you and then I will leave you in the basement to rot until you beg me for death_. She had one choice – one chance.

Run.


	9. Ready to Run

A/N: Thank you to all you lovely people who left comments on the last chapter. We journey on! It's crunch time for me on this move though—I've got about one week left to finish everything. I am going to try my best to get out one more chapter before I start driving. And if anyone is curious, the track I've had on repeat while reading this chapter: Marina and the Diamonds "Lies". Enjoy, sweethearts!

_Ready to Run_

Caroline let the letter flutter out of her hand, and in her mind she cursed every last person in Mystic Falls for being stupid enough not to destroy the letter in the first place. Klaus was not the most understanding of people, Caroline knew, and betrayal was not something he ever took lightly. She paced around the living room, trying to decide if she should wait and face him (after all, he'd already seen the letter and hadn't slaughtered her in her sleep) or if she should make a run for it. She went into her bedroom and started searching for her phone that she'd tossed down on the bed the night before after texting Elena. When she found it, it was crushed—the screen shattered. Apparently Klaus had gone looking for further proof of her betrayal but was cockblocked by the passcode on the phone and in classic Klaus fashion, had simply destroyed it. She sighed heavily. Was she to become the next Katherine? Hunted for eternity for slighting the hybrid? He couldn't keep good on his word to kill everyone in front of her if he didn't have her though, but that wasn't to say that he wouldn't start killing them to draw her out. There was more mental swearing that was completely unbecoming of a lady before she grabbed her smaller carryon bag, shoved as much as she could into it and all but flew out of the swank hotel.

She found her way to the train station and though she had no idea where to go, she just knew she had to get away from _here._ That was how she wound up on a five and a half hour journey by train to Toulouse, France, slowly trying to make her way to Spain, and eventually figure out her way home. It was still morning in Mystic Falls when she got settled into a small hotel room. She didn't go for the same glitz that Klaus did, and she desperately hoped that that would help her remain hidden. She picked up the hotel phone and took a deep breath. This was exactly the call that she didn't want to make. The last thing she wanted to hear right now was 'I told you so', because, quite frankly, if anyone had exercised a modicum of intelligence, she wouldn't be in this position. She started to dial Elena's number, but hung up before the last digit. No, that is not what she wanted to hear right now. Elena would freak out and Caroline didn't have time for that. She needed someone who would take thoughtful action and help her figure this out. She dialed again.

"Hello?" the voice sounded confused at the international number dialing in.

"Stefan," Caroline said, exhaling at the same time in relief. Stefan could help. He didn't rush into things haphazardly and without consideration. Much.

"Caroline? Caroline what are you doing? Elena is worried sick."

"I know," she said, feeling guilty. "I know, I'm sorry. I just…I can't call her right now. Stefan, I'm in trouble and it's big."

"So the texts you sent weren't really from you? Well, at least not truthful?"

"No, that's the problem. Those texts were serious. I wanted to stay. Stefan, I can't explain I just…but it doesn't matter. Rebekah got the letter that I left for Elena and sent it to Klaus. He thinks I've betrayed him. I ran. If he catches me it's not going to be good. You of all people know how he is. But you need to keep Elena safe. He threatened to kill everyone there if he found out I was lying, which I was, but now I'm not and this is just the biggest mess ever and I wish I had never bothered writing a stupid letter. I should have just left."

"Caroline, breathe," he said, lowering his voice as Damon walked in. "Tell me where you are. I'll come and get you." He heard her release a breath. He and Caroline had gotten much closer since she became a vampire and he felt very protective over her—even though she'd proved on several occasions that she was fierce enough to take care of herself. It didn't matter how fierce you were though, because Klaus was terrifying to vampires much older than either of them. Even Katherine wouldn't dream of going up against the original.

"No, no you can't," she said, even though she desperately wanted him to do just that. "I don't know where I'll be. My phone is shattered. I'll have to get a little flip phone or something here. I don't know. I don't know what to do, Stefan. I want to go back and explain everything to him, I just…I don't know if that's going to end with me walking out of the room alive. I care about him," she reasoned, and then her voice broke. "I care about him and now he's never going to believe me. Why can't anything ever be easy?"

Stefan gave a regretful laugh. "Because it never is. Even a hundred years later. Where are you now?"

"Toulouse, it's like…almost six hours away from Paris. I don't know how much time that's going to buy me. He doesn't really know which way I went."

"Not much, Caroline," Stefan's tone held a clear warning. "Klaus is good at getting what he wants. He has a lot of contacts and more influence than anyone should ever be allowed. You may not even have days before he catches up to you."

"Katherine has made it this long—"

Stefan cut her off, "You aren't Katherine." He realized too late how harsh and biting his tone was. "Not that it's a bad thing, you just…you aren't willing to do what she's willing to do to keep yourself safe. You care too much about the well-being of others. You aren't ruthless and that's what it takes to get away from him."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" she asked, frustrated.

"Let me help you. I will meet you somewhere and we'll figure it out. Get you back here."

"What about Elena?"

"She's safer here. Damon will protect her, and Bonnie. Elijah is back, too and he won't let Rebekah or Klaus near her. Just keep moving. Don't stay in any place longer than a night. Double back around and go back to Paris. I'll meet you there in a week. I need time to make sure everything is secure here and try to figure out where he is exactly. Call or text me when you get a phone so I can let you know if I hear anything. And Caroline? Stay safe. Do NOT confront him. Klaus doesn't listen to reason. He never has. Whatever you feel for him…it's probably best if you try and put it behind you. When Klaus holds a grudge, he doesn't let it go. I don't want you to get hurt."

Caroline was silent for several minutes, and though Stefan couldn't see it, she was holding her head in her hands, shaking her head back and forth slowly. How could she just _forget_ how she felt? Just ignore it? "I'll see you in Paris, Stefan. I'll text you as soon as I get a phone. Thanks…" she trailed off.

"Be careful," he told her one last time before disconnecting the call.

Caroline flopped back gracelessly onto the bed, pulled one of the pillows over her face and screamed bloody murder. She was so angry and so frustrated she just wanted to rip something apart—which was precisely the fate that the feather pillow met moments later, covering her, the bed, and half the room in downy white wisps. Knowing how ridiculous she must have looked only soured her mood further, and on top of that she was getting hungry.

_Meanwhile, in Paris_

"Is there nothing I can do right with you, Nik?" came the shrill sound of Rebekah at her most exasperated. "I thought you would _want_ to know."

He'd spent the last hour absolutely tearing her apart on the phone for sending the letter—which of course, wasn't her fault that it had been written, but everything had been ruined and he had to lash out at someone. It had taken every ounce of self-control that he'd had, standing over the couch and watching Caroline sleep not to tear out her heart right then. He just…couldn't. Klaus didn't process hurt the way most other people did. Hurt became blind rage, an unstoppable force of destruction that left entire villages razed when he was done. Yet he'd stopped himself this time. For her. He had hoped that she would be there when he returned—that she could explain herself, but she had run. Part of him didn't blame her—the very tiny, rational part of his brain, the same part that had kept him from killing her. The rest of him wanted to hunt her down and fulfill his promise to her. He'd start with Tyler, and then the blond football player. "No, Rebekah, I did _not_ want to know," he finally said after a very long silence (well, speaking silence. On the other end of the line, Rebekah could hear him pacing and the occasional clatter of him flipping a piece of furniture).

Then, it was Rebekah's turn to be speechless. She'd seen Klaus take disappointment very hard. She'd seen the earth-scorching effects it could have, but she'd never heard him actually…dejected? She sighed, "I'm sorry," she lowered her voice. "I didn't realize how much the girl meant to you. But it's better you know than—"

"No, it isn't," he cut her off. "And now she's gone, which means I get to track her across bloody creation to drag her back to Mystic Falls and make her wish she'd never crossed me," he spat venomously.

Except for one thing: Rebekah sensed a distinct lack of conviction in his voice. Of all his siblings, she knew him best of all. She walked slowly to the window and looked out before posing her next statement very carefully, "Did you ever consider maybe…giving her a chance to explain herself?" Rebekah actually cringed at the suggestion. There was no love lost between her and Caroline, but she _did_ know that whatever it was about the obnoxious blonde, she had a hold on her brother, brought things out in him that she hadn't seen in centuries (granted, she'd missed most of the last one). There was a rush of air over the line of Klaus exhaling like a pissed off bull through his nose. His lack of immediate refusal though told her she was at least considering his words. If anyone had the power to sway him, it was Rebekah, and sometimes Elijah. Kol was worthless for anything except pissing him off further. The line went dead shortly thereafter and Rebekah rolled her eyes. Typical Niklaus—whenever she said something that made sense to him but that he didn't like, he just dismissed it.

His phone buzzed again in his palm and he glanced down and accepted the text message from Rebekah, which was very simply stated: "You are not an island, Niklaus." Damn her. Damn Caroline. Damn him for trusting her. He rubbed his hand over his face and then back through his hair. He dropped back onto the couch and the blanket fluffed up a whiff of her perfume. He stared blankly forward, catching a glint of light—her earrings on the table that she'd taken out after they kept poking her while she was snuggled into his side. It rubbed salt into an already raw wound and Klaus wondered why he hadn't just killed her right then. He should have. Now he'd have to chase her across creation to do it. Even then, the thought of actually robbing the world of the brightness that was Caroline Forbes was almost vulgar, even to him. He had no idea what he was going to do yet. Finding her though, that would be a good start.


	10. Backpedaling

A/N: Y'all, I don't even have a good reason. I've been in 3 states since October 1 and it's been cray and now I'm looking at moving again in another couple of months. Went through some pretty serious emotional shit, but I've come out the other side of it. I actually had to go back and re-read the first 9 chapters because I didn't even remember where I was, and now I know your predicament because I got to the end of chapter 9 and went "What? COME ON!" Please forgive me. 3 Big ups to my bff Lore for helping me with some of the dialogue when I got stuck.

Chapter 10 – Backpedaling

_Tick. Tick. Tick._

Sun was filtering through the blinds and Caroline knew she'd never actually gone to sleep. How could she? Air was taken in slowly and then released through her nose. There was no point in laying there when she wasn't going to sleep anyway. Caroline threw back the covers and put everything back in her small suitcase and got ready to find her next shelter. This was ridiculous. If Klaus had wanted to kill her, he would have done it when he'd read the letter, right? Maybe Stefan was underestimating him, maybe she was as well. It was a fatal flaw of Caroline's that she always wanted to believe the best in people. It was also how she ended up back on that same train on her way back to Paris.

Stefan was going to be really angry with her, she knew. That was the reason she hadn't bothered getting another phone to message him and tell him that she was going back for Klaus because she just knew he'd try and talk her out of it—and if she was honest with herself, he might have been successful because Caroline wasn't even sure herself about what she was doing. She tried to focus on the music in her ears but the songs that were supposed to be calming her down only served to twist the knife a little deeper in her chest. God this all felt like such a _disaster_. Just once couldn't she get it right? Couldn't everything go the way it was supposed to go?

Caroline made it back to Paris late in the afternoon but spent a long while pacing nearby streets until she finally went back to the hotel well after dark. Fortunately the woman at the desk understood enough English for Caroline to convey that her husband had sent her back to get the camera but she'd forgotten to get the key from him. She was given another key, but then spent an additional five minutes pacing around in the lobby before getting in the elevator and riding up to the room. She took a deep breath and did something she hadn't done in a long time—prayed. She didn't even know if that counted anymore. Weren't vampires all damned anyway? The card slipped in and the door unlocked. Thankfully—the room was devoid of any raging hybrids. It was, however, a hot mess.

A deep sigh slipped past her lips as she opened the door further and walked inside, letting it shut behind her. Surveying the damage, she found that his room looked just as bad as the living room, if not worse. Her room, however, other than the phone, was still in pristine condition. Her first order of business was to set the room to rights. First the living room, and then his bedroom. It didn't take as long as she thought it would and afterwards she was left to sit uncomfortably waiting for the upcoming confrontation. She tried to eat, but the blood just felt like a heavy weight in her stomach and like it really wanted to come up. She'd never thrown up blood before, but she'd thrown up enough alcohol to know that blood would not be pleasant the second time around. More pacing. She'd almost talked herself out of staying and talked herself back into leaving when she heard the lock on the door click.

Klaus's head had been far off, so far off that he hadn't actually realized she was there before he opened the door, but there she was standing in the middle of the small living room—looking absolutely terrified. Good. She should be, he thought to himself. She had no idea of the wrath she would incur. The initial look of shock wore off into a much colder mask. He tossed the plastic key and his phone onto the counter and stalked towards her very, _very_ slowly. "If you think that showing up here before I inevitably smoked you out of whatever dark corner of the world you fled to will lessen your sentence, you're wrong. Quite the contrary, Caroline. You've only denied me the pleasure of hunting you down, and in case you haven't been paying attention, I hate it when people disappoint me."

Caroline didn't even realize that she'd been retreating with every step he took toward her until she felt her back hit the wall. "Klaus, please, listen to me, I didn't—"

"Didn't you?" he cut her off, his tone and gaze equally murderous.

"Just listen to me, please. I know what you think. I know what I thought when I started. I know what you said. Yes, I lied. I came under false pretenses, but things changed while I was here. I started to feel—"

He cut her off again, "Why should I believe anything you have to say to me? Tell me. Give me one good reason, Caroline. One."

"I am TRYING to give you one if you would _shut up_ and let me talk!" she snapped, simultaneously afraid and angry.

"Do not test my patience Carol—"

This time it was her turn to interrupt him. "No, you don't get to lecture me and be pissed off at me for betraying you!" she practically screamed at him, pushing him away from her. As soon as she made contact though she regretted it because he had her by the wrists and was holding her so tightly that she knew it should have bruised had she been human. It didn't stop her though, she kept going, "All you have done since you came to Mystic Falls is hurt people and kill people and betray people. Your family, your own sister. You get as good as you give Niklaus Mikaelson!" she shouted now, not ready to back down. He was going to hear what the hell she had to say before he ripped her throat out. "You almost killed my boyfriend, you turned him into some brain-washed hybrid toy, you tried to use my best friend to create even more pets for you because on your own you do not have the social graces to secure any kind of real loyalty outside of fear. You killed my best friend's aunt, my other best friend's mother. You almost killed ME. And in spite of that—in spite of everything you've done, everyone you've hurt, me included, all of the horrible things you've done…" she was losing steam, her voice quieting. Her mascara was utterly ruined around red-rimmed eyes and she sniffled. "In spite of all of that, I still fell in love with a monster. I'm no better than you are. We deserve each other," she barely choked out.

He was holding her wrists so tightly but it would have been so easy to crush them, which he seriously considered when she started yelling at him. Did she forget who he was? But then she said it—she was in love with a monster. He was the monster. She meant that she was in love with him. Klaus's first thought was to rip her heart out and then tear her head off for good measure—how dare she! But Caroline was the worst liar ever and the worn sincerity in her eyes spoke volumes. His grip did tighten and he heard her whimper before he shoved her away from him hard enough that she lost her balance and hit the ground. He didn't care. It was better she was away from him. He was so vehemently angry that his eyes had gone gold and fangs were bared, though thankfully not in use. He needed to break something—he _wanted _ to break her, but couldn't bring himself to do it. The living room, instead, ended up destroyed again.

Caroline had pushed herself up against a wall again and watched through teary eyes while he destroyed their hotel room for a second time. It was when his gaze turned on her though that she felt herself actually stop breathing. She was pretty sure her heart stopped briefly as well. She pulled her knees up to her chest and held up her arms in a defensive pose (not that it would do any good), and then found herself jerked roughly to her feet once more by her wrists.

He was breathing heavily, but still seemed mostly under control when he finally spoke. "You are anything but a monster, Caroline," he finally managed through gritted teeth. "But I am, and always will be." He started to let her go—to release her and walk away, but that was not his fate to be had.

The younger vampire was at a loss, there was nothing else that she could say. She wasn't going to tell him that he could change. He could if he wanted to, he didn't want to. She couldn't tell him that she didn't care and it didn't bother her, it did. She did the only thing she could, the only thing that seemed right in that moment. Caroline grabbed Klaus and kissed him violently. It was none of the sweet playfulness of the first time she'd kissed him in the street. It was raw, emotional, and every conflicted feeling that she'd had—all the hatred, the anger, the confusion, the hope, the love, everything poured into that one kiss.

For a brief, terrifying second, she thought he was going to push her away—but then he pulled her closer and she tasted blood. Her head was spinning.


End file.
